Venus (bivalve)
| Venus clam Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Venus affinis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Venerida |
| Superfamily: | Veneroidea |
| Family: | Veneridae |
| Genus: | Venus Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
| Venus verrucosa Linnaeus, 1758
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| Synonyms | |
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Venus is a genus of small to large saltwater clams in the family Veneridae, which is sometimes known as the Venus clams and their relatives. These are marine bivalve molluscs.
Etymology
[edit]The genus Venus is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and sexuality.
Taxonomy
[edit]However, some bivalves are still called Venus clams because they used to be in the genus Venus, though they are now placed in other genera: these include the species within the genus Mercenaria, and Pitar dione, the Venus shell described in sexual terms by Linnaeus.[1][2]
Fossil records
[edit]The genus is known from the Cretaceous to the recent periods (age range: from 136.4 Mya to now). Fossils shells have been found all over the world. About 20 extinct species are known.[3]
The family Veneridae
[edit]The family Veneridae contains over 400 known species, many of which are attractive and popular with shell-collectors.
The shells of venerids vary in shape, and include shells that are circular, triangular, and rectangular. Characteristically, Venus clams possess a porcelain-like inner shell layer, a complex tooth structure in the hinge, well-developed escutcheon and lunule, and a well-developed pallial sinus.
Veneridae colonize the sandy ocean bottom, and their populations are often dense and large. The Veneroida order typically has a folded gill structure which is well developed for filtering out small food particles.
Common name
[edit]
The common names of clams in this genus often include the name Venus. A few species that still have "Venus" as part of their common name, but which are no longer in the genus Venus are:
- Sunray Venus, Macrocallista nimbosa (Lightfoot)
- Cross-barred Venus, Chione cancellata (Linnaeus)
- Lady-in-waiting Venus, Chione intapurpurea (Conrad)
- Imperial Venus, Lirophora latilirata (Conrad)
- Grey pygmy Venus, Chione grus (Holmes)
- Striped Venus clam, Chamelea gallina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Elegant Venus clam, Pitar dione (Linnaeus, 1758)
Species
[edit]
The genus Venus contains these extant species:[4]
- Venus albina G. B. Sowerby II, 1853
- Venus casina Linnaeus, 1758
- Venus cassinaeformis (Yokoyama, 1926)
- Venus chevreuxi Dautzenberg, 1891
- Venus crebrisulca Lamarck, 1818
- Venus declivis G. B. Sowerby II, 1853
- Venus lyra Hanley, 1845
- Venus nux Gmelin, 1791
- Venus rosalina Rang, 1802: synonym of Venus crebrisulca Lamarck, 1818
- Venus subrosalina Tomlin, 1923
- Venus thomassini Fischer-Piette & Vukadinovic, 1977
- Venus verdensis Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1906
- Venus verrucosa Linnaeus, 1758
References
[edit]- ^ Linnaeus (1758). Systema Naturae (10th ed.). pp. 684–685.
- ^ Linnaeus (1767). Systema Naturae (12th ed.). pp. 1128–1129.
- ^ Fossilworks
- ^ Philippe Bouchet, Mark Huber & Serge Gofas (2012). "Venus Linnaeus, 1758". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
External links
[edit]
- Veneridae, Venus clams
- Veneridae, Venus clam
- Venus, Veneridae
- AMNH Veneridae holdings
- NC Sea Grant Seashells of NC Field Guide
- NC Seashells